Which program translates programs to a simpler language that the computer can execute.
Answer Details
The program that translates programs to a simpler language that the computer can execute is called a compiler.
A compiler is a program that takes the source code of a program written in a high-level programming language and translates it into machine code or executable code that the computer can understand and execute. The process of compiling involves several steps, including lexical analysis, syntax analysis, semantic analysis, code optimization, and code generation.
When a programmer writes a program in a high-level programming language such as Java or Python, the code is not directly executable by the computer. Instead, the code must be translated into machine code, which is a low-level language that the computer can understand and execute. This is where the compiler comes in. The compiler takes the source code written in the high-level programming language and converts it into machine code that can be executed by the computer.
The advantage of using a compiler is that the resulting executable code is usually faster and more efficient than code interpreted by an interpreter, which we will discuss next. Additionally, since the code is already translated into machine code, it can be executed multiple times without the need for further translation, making it faster to execute.
Overall, a compiler is a program that translates high-level programming code into machine code that a computer can execute, allowing programmers to write code in a more human-readable language and then have it translated into a language that the computer can understand and execute.